


When You're Gone (I'll Find You)

by xJustxLivingxLifex



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Fontcest is implied, Gen or Pre-Slash, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Papyrus isn't in this fic, Swapcest maybe implied as well, Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), missing brothers, only mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xJustxLivingxLifex/pseuds/xJustxLivingxLifex
Summary: While out searching for his missing brother Sans stumbles into another dimension. He doesn't find his brother, but he does find another skeleton who also lost someone. It helps to find someone who understands.
Relationships: Fontcest - Relationship, Papyrus/Sans (Undertale), Sans & Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	When You're Gone (I'll Find You)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Papyrus Domination](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/608749) by Amortem. 



> This work is based off the comic "Papyrus Domination" by Amortem. 
> 
> WARNING: "Papyrus Domination" is a NSFW comic Fellcest with heavy unhealthy relationship behaviors, though consent is implied/given for the most part later in comic. If you are okay with that, then I highly recommend it. 
> 
> This is not beta read, so if you find mistakes I wouldn't be surprised. Just let me know and I'll try to correct them when I can. This is also the first fic I've written in years, so there was a lot of brushing the dust off the writing skills.
> 
> Background from the comic: Both Tale and Swap Papyrus are stuck in the Fell universe, and neither Sans knows this.

Sans woke up half buried in the snow, which was strange. Typically after a late night at Grillby’s his brother would pop in the bar to toss him over his shoulders and drag Sans’ inebriated self to bed. Even if his brother hadn’t gotten him, Grillby wasn’t the type to kick him out into the snow. The ache in his bones also didn’t seem to align with the hangover pain he had come to expect from a night of drinking with the K9’s.

As he sat up his eye lights came into focus. He looked down at himself and noticed the singed look of his jacket and slippers. Had he hooked up with Grillby? No, that couldn’t be it. He hadn’t done that in years. Not since… wait. Papyrus! That’s right, he had been out looking for his brother again. 

A deep sorrow filled him. His brother had disappeared over a week ago. He had lost count of how many times he had searched the Underground at this point, and he hadn’t found a hint as to what had happened to his bro. Undyne had tried to convince him to take a break, allowing her and the guards to lead the investigation, but they hadn’t dug up anything up either. Sans knew Undyne had asked Alphys to check her cameras, but nothing unusual showed on the tapes after his brother had left the house. It was like he just vanished. 

Sans stumbled to his feet. He grimaced as the pain spiked for a moment before it settled back down to an ache. He dusted off the snow from his jacket and looked around. At least now he knew about what he had been doing, but that still left the mystery of how had he gotten here. The last thing he remembered was taking a short cut home from Hotland after another unsuccessful search. The snow around him appeared undisturbed and the woods offered no other clues either. It seemed the most likely culprit was an overshot shortcut, but why was he sore? 

Still exhausted from the nonstop searches, he decided that this seemed like a mystery that was best solved from the couch. He rolled his shoulders to drive off the remaining ache, and opened a shortcut to his living room. Stepping forward, the darkness of the void swallowed him for a second before spitting him back out into snow not even two feet from where he had been. 

That… wasn’t right. He tried again, making sure to remain focused on his destination, but still only ended up a couple feet away. It seemed his magic had other plans. This week just kept getting worse and worse. 

Dragging his feet, he trudged off in the direction he assumed his house was. He walked for ten minutes or so before he could start to see buildings in the distance. When he finally emerged from the woods he spotted the library. Which meant... Bingo! He was relieved to see his house just a short distance away. At least something was going right.

He staggered up the steps of his porch before opening the front door. He dragged his soiled slippers across the carpet he prepared to collapse onto the couch. Only, before he could collapse, he noticed several changes to his abode. It was like someone had decided to come in and redecorated while he was out, though he wasn’t sure of the reason why. 

The normally burgundy colored walls were now a slate bluish color, and even his green worn sofa was a cobalt blue. The ever-present sock and sticky notes were still next to the TV, but they had been moved to the other side of the TV stand. As Sans stood there trying to think of who would do all this and why he missed the sounds of clanging dishes coming from the kitchen.

“PAPY! IS THAT YOU?!”

Sans looked over to see another skeleton walk in from the kitchen. The other’s face seemed to switch rapidly from excitement to disappointment before settling on the same confused face Sans had. 

“YOU’RE… NOT PAPY.”

It was like Sans was looking through a distorted mirror. The other skeleton looked remarkably like him, but with slight differences as well. While they were both rather short with round skulls, the other stood straight up (unlike Sans’ pervasive slouch) giving the appearance they were just slightly taller. They also had dark marks under their eye sockets as well, though his seemed lighter than Sans’. Like they were a recent addition to the other’s face. The other was dressed in an untucked grey shirt and black pants, which despite their haggard appearance still looked neater than anything Sans ever wore.

Judging by the rubber gloves they were wearing, they had been washing dishes before coming in. Breaking out of whatever trance they and Sans had entered into they took off the gloves, setting them on down on a near by the table, before approaching Sans.

“OH, SORRY ABOUT THAT. I WAS EXPECTING… SOMEONE ELSE. NO MATTER! I AM AN EXCELLENT HOST, EVEN TO STRANGERS WHO COME IN UNANNOUNCED. I AM THE SENSATIONAL SANS. HOW CAN I HELP YOU? AND MAY I ASK, WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?” 

This was not what Sans had been expecting when he woke up in the woods. 

“uh…heya. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.” 

Sans stood there in confusion as the other Sans laughed in apparent amusement.

“MWEH HEH HEH! YOU ARE FUNNY STRANGER! AS I SAID I AM SANS, BUT I DO APPRECIATE YOUR JOKE. THOUGH I PREFER RIDDLES MYSELF.”

“it’s not a joke dude.” Sans stated, but continued on unable to help himself. “to be honest, i wouldn’t find that joke very humerus.”

The other Sans opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as a cringing look passed over their face.

“WAS THAT A PUN? PUNS ARE THE LOWEST FORM OF COMEDY.”

“a pun? psst… no. i hate puns. you could even say i’m a very sternum kind of guy.”

“ENOUGH!” The other Sans shouted, hands drawn into fists at this side and stomping his foot on the floor that reminded Sans of another certain skeleton he knew. It was both hilarious and heartbreaking. 

“relax kid, i was just messing with you. my name really is sans though.”

The other Sans’ eye socket twitched in aggravation, but they did stop stomping their foot.

“THE SENSATIONAL SANS IS ALWAYS RELAXED, BUT I AM NOT A KID. AND EVEN IF YOU ARE CALLED SANS AS WELL, THAT STILL DOESN’T EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE IN MY HOUSE.”

“yeah about that, i don’t know either.” Sans said with a shrug. Slowly though the implications of what had happened were slowly starting to sink in. “i thought this was my house, but i think something went wrong. something is very wrong.”

A flash of concern crossed the other’s face as he moved further in the living room, taking in the charred state of Sans’ clothes and the sweat gathering on Sans’ skull.

“ARE YOU LOST? ARE YOU HURT? DON’T WORRY NOT-ME-SANS. I WILL ALERT ALPHYS, THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD HERSELF, AND SHE WILL HELP US.”

Sans fell back onto the couch, trying to rub away the tension he could feel gathering between his eye sockets.

“yeah i don’t think the royal guard is going to help me here. maybe the royal scientist if i’m lucky.”

The other Sans seemed confused by the statement, but sat on the other end of the couch when he noticed the other’s distressed state. The presence gave Sans the slightest bit of comfort while he tried not to think about how messed up everything was. 

“WHY DO YOU NEED THE ROYAL SCIENTIST? IF YOU ARE LOST, THE GUARD WOULD BE MUCH MORE HELPFUL.”

Sans deliberated for a moment before turning his head to face the other. 

“what do you know about multiple universes?”

The other Sans appeared to grow more serious, his eye lights shrinking ever slightly while he regarded Sans seriously.

“ADMITTEDLY NOT AS MUCH AS MY BROTHER, BUT ENOUGH TO HAVE AN IDEA ON WHERE THIS IS GOING.”

Sans startled for a moment. Of course if there was a Sans then it wouldn’t be beyond reason that there would be a Papyrus here too. But he didn’t seem to be home right now seeing as other Sans had mistaken him for his own brother when Sans walked through the door. He tried to push the pain of that thought away as he continued on.

“i’m you from another universe, or rather a version of you. i was coming home from hotland, but somehow ended up in this reality instead. i’m not sure entirely sure how i got here.” 

“HMMM… THIS IS AN ISSUE.” The other Sans seemed to think for a moment before looking back at Sans. The other must have seen something on his face that needed cheering up because the next thing Sans knew the other had jumped up from the couch and was striking a pose with his fist raised into the air in triumph. 

“WORRY NOT! I, THE SENSATIONAL SANS, WILL HELP YOU FIGURE THIS OUT AND WE SHALL GET YOU HOME!”

Sans chuckled before the longing hit him. This Sans reminded him so much of his brother. Then an idea struck.

“you wouldn’t by chance have an extra papyrus running around here that you know about do you?” Sans asked hopefully. 

The way the other’s eye lights shrunk and his form wilted told Sans his answer. Well, it was a long shot anyway.

“I’M SORRY, BUT NO. I DON’T KNOW OF ANYOTHER PAPYRUSES AROUND HERE. TO BE HONEST, I DON’T KNOW WHERE MY OWN PAPYRUS IS.”

Wait. His Papyrus was gone too? Now that couldn’t be a coincidence could it? 

“your bro is missing too?” Sans asked.

The other appeared equally concerned by the question.

“TOO? YOUR BROTHER IS MISSING AS WELL?” Other Sans considered this for a moment before continuing. 

“PAPY DISAPPEARED A LITTLE OVER A WEEK AGO. HE MAY TRY TO HIDE OUT AT A FRIEND’S PLACE TO AVOID WORK EVERYNOW AND THEN, BUT IT’S NOT LIKE HIM TO DISAPPEAR LIKE THIS. I’VE SEARCHED EVERYWHERE, I EVEN WENT TO THAT CAFÉ OF MUFFET’S HE LIKES SO MUCH BUT NO ONE THERE HAS SEEN HIM EITHER.” 

Tears gathered in the other’s eye sockets, but they were quickly scrubbed away before Sans could say anything. 

“I WOULD BE OUT LOOKING NOW, BUT CAPTAIN ALPHYS SAYS THAT REST IS IMPORTANT DURING THESE TIMES AND ORDERED ME HOME FOR THE DAY. THE GUARD IS CONTINUING THE SEARCH.”

Sans nodded in understanding. He would search (and had) til exhaustion if Undyne didn’t threaten to send someone to sit on him until he slept.

“same. i mean my bro went missing around the same time. he didn’t show up for training which never happens. my bro is too cool to skip training.”

“DO YOU THINK IT’S CONNECTED TO WHY YOU’RE HERE?” Other Sans contemplated.

“i’m not sure. maybe?” That was Sans’ guess too, but without any hard evidence to support it, it was just a guess. 

Determination swelled into the other and their eye lights morphed into stars. They gathered Sans in a hug and swung him around the room, almost knocking the TV off the stand in their excitement. 

‘Wow, the dude is a lot stronger than he looks’ Sans thought.

“I, THE SENSATIONAL SANS, HAVE A WONDERFUL IDEA! YOU WILL STAY HERE AND WE WILL LOOK INTO THE INVESTIGATION OF OUR MISSING BROTHERS TOGETHER!” Other Sans cheered in enthusiasm for his idea. Meanwhile Sans had his eye lights off, trying to strive off the dizziness from all the spinning. 

“um… i mean i don’t really have anywhere else i could go, but there’s no guarantee that the same thing that happened to my brother happened to yours.” He tried to reason.

“WORRY NOT NOT-ME-SANS. I KNOW WE CAN FIND OUR BROTHERS TOGETHER.” Other Sans stated and Sans could feel the smirk in his words as the other continued. “YOU COULD EVEN SAY THAT I FEEL IT IN MY BONES! MWEH HEH HEH!”

Sans chuckled weakly as the other set him back down on his feet. With a stumble he tried to set his footing. Yeah, he was definitely dizzy. 

Other Sans beamed at him, stars spinning with hope and determination. At least until the charred smell of Sans’ clothes fully hit him and he backed away with a grimace.

“BEFORE WE CAN BEGIN THOUGH, WE MUST GET YOU A CHANGE OF CLOTHES.”

“that’s really not necessary-” Sans stated still trying to recover from the spinning.

However, the other wouldn’t hear it as they rushed up the stairs, dragging poor Sans behind him by his wrist. The other slammed open the door of what must have been his room and pulled Sans inside. Sans stared around noting all the similarities between this room and his brother’s. A spaceship bed had replaced the racecar bed, and the pirate flag on the wall was instead a poster of the solar system. Even the action figures appeared to be some kind of Sci-fi figurines. 

“HERE YOU GO! THESE SHOULD FIT!”

Sans turned to face the other who was holding out a pair of black sport shorts and a dark grey tank top. 

“thanks man.” Sans said taking the offered clothes from the other.

“OF COURSE. I AM THE BEST HOST IN THE UNDERGROUND. MWEH HEH HEH!”

Sans fiddled with the clothes in his grasp for a few moments while the other continued to stand there and laugh. 

“um… would you mind..?”

A bright blue blush overtook the other’s skull as he quickly turned around.

“O-OF COURSE! DON’T MIND ME.”

With his semi-privacy, Sans removed his jacket and slippers. He replaced his baggy t-shirt and shorts, which he now noticed were also scorched, with the other’s non-scorched clothes. While the clothes did seem to fit fine, without his jacket he felt strangely vulnerable. Once dressed he let the other know he was decent.

The other Sans turned back around and surveyed his work. Satisfied with a job well done, the other offered to take Sans clothes to be cleaned.

“ONCE THESE ARE PROPERLY CARED FOR I WILL RETURN THEM TO YOU IMMEDIATELY.”

“yeah, sure man.” 

Sans followed the other back downstairs while the other went to throw his clothes in the wash. Exhaustion slowly started to sit back in, and he sat back on the couch. Laying his head back to stare at the ceiling, he found his mind racing. How had he gotten here? Had the same thing happened to Papyrus? Where was his brother? If his bro was in fact in a different reality, did he have any chance of ever finding him? Even if he could figure out how to control a universal jump, there were countless possibilities of universes that his brother could be in. The chances of finding him were unthinkable. 

He shook his head. He couldn’t think about that right now. Trying to ignore the rising panic he felt, he called out to the other.

“so, tell me about your bro. he seems different from my papyrus.”

“PAPY IS GREAT!” The other called out as he finished loading the laundry. Once done, he joined Sans on the couch with a wistful smile.

“PAPY IS SO SUPPORTIVE AND ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR ME. SURE HE CAN BE LAZY SOMETIMES, BUT HE ALWAYS KNEW WHEN I WAS CLOSE TO BURNING OUT AND ALWAYS HAD THE PERFECT IDEAS FOR HOW TO RELAX.” A light blush dusted the other’s skull. “HE ALWAYS KNEW HOW TO MAKE LAUGH WHEN I FEEL LESS THAN SENSATIONAL.”

Other Sans let out a watery laugh as tears started to gather in his eye sockets. “HE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE SOME KIND OF LOUD MUSIC PLAYING IN HIS ROOM, EVEN WHEN HE WASN’T THERE! IT USED TO DRIVE ME CRAZY. NOW THE HOUSE IS JUST TOO QUIET.”

Sans reached out and grabbed the other’s hand, offering his empathy. Yeah, he knew that feeling. Ever since Paps had disappeared the house was definitely too quiet to stay in. 

Taking a breath the other turned and faced Sans, smile bright despite the tear tracks slowly falling down his skull. 

“HOW ABOUT YOURS?”

Sans smiled weakly thinking of his bro focusing his eye lights on the floor. 

“paps is so cool. he can do anything he sets his mind to, but it seems most the time he’s just trying to take care of me. he’s taken care of me longer than he even knows, but he never complains or makes me feel bad about it. he makes me want to be a better person.” A sob overtook him as the extent of everything came crashing in.

“i don’t know where i would be without him.”

Arms wrapped around him once more, but instead of swinging him they just pulled him closer to the other’s chest. He grabbed on to the other and cried, feeling the silent tears of the other’s drop down on his skull as well. 

They cried for what felt like hours before they had no tears left. Sniffling Sans pulled back and tried to wipe away the remnants only to remember he didn’t have his jacket anymore. Suddenly a tissue appeared before his face. Looking over he saw the other had already cleaned up his face and a pile of waded up tissues sat nearby. Grateful, Sans took the presented tissue to wipe away the mess from his own face before tossing his tissue onto the pile.

“what are we even crying about? we’re going to find them right?” He said, feeling his resolve set in.

“YES, OF COURSE.” The other agreed. “I AM SENSATIONAL, AND YOU ARE A SANS AS WELL SO YOU MUST BE TOO. BETWEEN THE TWO OF US WE WILL FIND OUR BROTHERS AND RETURN YOU HOME!”

Other Sans and Sans beamed at each other before a thought hit Sans.

“hey, do you have a nickname or something? i can’t keep thinking of you as ‘other sans’.”

Other Sans considered the idea for a moment before nodding.

“WHEN TRAINING WITH ALPHYS I WEAR BATTLE BODY ARMOR. SOMETIMES PAPY WOULD CALL ME ‘BLUE’ BECAUSE OF THE BLUE BANDANA I WOULD WEAR WITH IT.”

“okay blue.” Sans said, testing the nickname. “any ideas on where we go from here?”

Blue stood and walked to the stairs, thinking of a certain key tucked away in his brother’s desk.

“YES. I DO HAVE AN IDEA ON WHERE WE SHOULD START.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well that's it. This is planned as a oneshot, but I may write more later.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
